Surely you are someone outside of your surgery and struggles with our weight. You have interests and dislikes and families- jobs and hobbies. And honestly- yes it is exciting to have this stool and to be on the journey- but hasn't there been enough focus all our lives on just our weight?

I know VST is dedicated to our VSG stories, but I sort of think that who we are makes our VSG surgeries that much more meaningful.

So I'll go first...

I'm Danielle. I'm 27 and I have three sisters and one nephew. I am unmarried and have no children. I work full time running the office for a respiratory company. This semester I am also attending college full time via online classes. I'm now also trying to squeeze in going to the gym three times a week.

I suffer from PCOS and had this surgery to help increase my chances of having a family of my own one day.

I am a TOTAL girly girl! I love the color pink, I like Hello Kitty the way others like Betty Boop or Tinkerbell, and I HATE HATE HATE spiders! I'm not much of an outdoorsie person- my idea of roughing it is five girls and one bathroom. That being said I do love to garden and can't wait for spring.

I love anything to do with 16th century european history and am a total fanatical nut when it comes to Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I. My favorite movie and book of allllllllll time is Gone With the Wind. I love watching old movies with my mom- our favorites are Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, anything with Doris Day and the Tammy movies. We also make a point of watching A League of Their Own together whenever it is on tv. I'm close with my Dad but sometimes I feel like we don't have anything in common.

Prior to surgery I loved home cooked food! (Along with chinese and pizza hut haha) I still enjoy cooking for my family (One sister, my parents and I all live together for economic reasons) and resumed cooking them meals within a few days of coming home from the hospital. I have a dog, she is a chihuahua/yorkie mix. Her name is Gypsy and well... she is sort of a monster!! I <3 her tho!

Now it's your turn!! Tell us who you are!

Hello Everyone, I just found this app today and I'm super excited to be able to read the different journeys u guys have to share. I'm 32 yrs old and work as an Ops Manager at a mortage co...married with 4 beautiful little ladies. I'm 5'2 with a BMI of 69.9....no I didn't make a

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typo, 69.9 is correct. I was always told I had a pretty face which wasn't a compliment in my book. As the years went by I didnt want to do anything outside of work....I missed school activities and family gatherings so after this year's family vacation and having to rent a mobile machine to ride through Sea World I knew I had to do something fast or I would continue to get bigger and eventually die. In order to reach my goal weight I'll have to lose around 220 lbs. My surgery date is scheduled for 9.10.12, so pls keep me in your prayers and I'll keep u guys posted on my progress. Thx

Hi,

My surgery is also for that same day in Mexico. I wish you all the best and know that this site will be able to help us along in our journey.

Hello Everyone, I just found this app today and I'm super excited to be able to read the different journeys u guys have to share. I'm 32 yrs old and work as an Ops Manager at a mortage co...married with 4 beautiful little ladies. I'm 5'2 with a BMI of 69.9....no I didn't make a

[ATTACH]4540[/ATTACH]

typo, 69.9 is correct. I was always told I had a pretty face which wasn't a compliment in my book. As the years went by I didnt want to do anything outside of work....I missed school activities and family gatherings so after this year's family vacation and having to rent a mobile machine to ride through Sea World I knew I had to do something fast or I would continue to get bigger and eventually die. In order to reach my goal weight I'll have to lose around 220 lbs. My surgery date is scheduled for 9.10.12, so pls keep me in your prayers and I'll keep u guys posted on my progress. Thx

God Bless you. You are beautiful, not just your face. I will be praying for you.

Hi. I'm 49 years old and have been a human yo-yo practically all my life. My BMI is 40 and I have high blood pressure and borderline high cholesterol. I also have depression and am hoping the weight loss can help it. I wold love to be able to stop taking high blood pressure medication and antidepressants.

I've been married to my husband for 21 years and I have a 18 (19 next month) year old son that is a sophomore in college and I have a 17 year old daughter that is a senior in high school. Two great kids!

Through the years, I've been able to lose weight doing various diets, but usually end up gaining the weight back along with some extra pounds. I am hoping and praying that the sleeve will be the last diet tool I need. I want to be skinny and sexy when I turn 50 in July, instead of being embarrassed around the people that have seen my weight go down last year to where I was a size 8/10 to just have it jump back up to a 20/22 within a year.

I enjoy walking, but not now because I am embarrassed with my neighbors seeing how fat i am when I was skinny just last summer. I want to get back to walking and joining a yoga class...just don't want to be the chunky monkey in the class.

Hopefully I can get sleeved in Dec/Jan timeframe and my husband will be encouraged to do the same since he is overweight and have life threatening health issues. My dream is to be able to travel the continent and visit all 48 states and visit Alaska (already been to Hawaii) and have my health to do enjoy it and want my husband healthy beside me....and of course to have the energy to help take care of my future grandkids.

Hey All,

My name is Jennifer. I am 32 years old from Windsor, ON, Canada. Looking into the sleeve procedure. I am at my highest wieght right now of 246lbs. I am hoping to get some great information from everyone on this site and learn more about the procedure!!

I just joined this forum looking for information and support. My name is Shanitha. I reside in Erie PA, 32, single, childless, and a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan, hence the s/n.

I had been thinking about WLS for a good while now. I have been obese nearly my entire life. I have a long torrid love affair with food. I definitely am an emotional eater. This did not improve any with my triple diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus, fibromyalgia, and pulmonary hypertension a year and a half ago. Among the many drugs I now take is Prednisone, which helped me gain 35 more lbs in the past year to a high of 318.

Since becoming ill, I have made valiant efforts to lose the weight, but nothing seems to stick. My waxing and waning depression doesn't help. My love life, as it were, has come to a grinding halt. I dread shopping for clothes. I don't want to be this person anymore.

I have my first appointment with my surgeon/staff tomorrow. I have pretty much decided on the sleeve, as I don't want my intestines rerouted and my body doesn't like foreign objects.

HI, I'm Tia. I'm 40 yrs old, married with no children. My husband is an ALS patient that I care for at home with the help of a very special nurse and a loving father. We loved to travel and spend loads of time together until his health really declined. He is on a ventilator. He's a super guy who never complains, has a super disposition, and is encouraging me to get this surgery so that when he's gone , I can live a healthy happy life. I am a super busy person between work and his care. This is the first thing I am doing for me in years. I love him and I love being a wife :wub: and just wish he could enjoy the rest of my lfe with me.

This is a great place to get info and encouragement!!! Congrats on the first steps to a healthier happier you!!! Oh and GO STEELERS!!!!!

I just joined this forum looking for information and support. My name is Shanitha. I reside in Erie PA, 32, single, childless, and a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan, hence the s/n.

I had been thinking about WLS for a good while now. I have been obese nearly my entire life. I have a long torrid love affair with food. I definitely am an emotional eater. This did not improve any with my triple diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus, fibromyalgia, and pulmonary hypertension a year and a half ago. Among the many drugs I now take is Prednisone, which helped me gain 35 more lbs in the past year to a high of 318.

Since becoming ill, I have made valiant efforts to lose the weight, but nothing seems to stick. My waxing and waning depression doesn't help. My love life, as it were, has come to a grinding halt. I dread shopping for clothes. I don't want to be this person anymore.

I have my first appointment with my surgeon/staff tomorrow. I have pretty much decided on the sleeve, as I don't want my intestines rerouted and my body doesn't like foreign objects.

HI, I'm Tia. I'm 40 yrs old, married with no children. My husband is an ALS patient that I care for at home with the help of a very special nurse and a loving father. We loved to travel and spend loads of time together until his health really declined. He is on a ventilator. He's a super guy who never complains, has a super disposition, and is encouraging me to get this surgery so that when he's gone , I can live a healthy happy life. I am a super busy person between work and his care. This is the first thing I am doing for me in years. I love him and I love being a wife :wub: and just wish he could enjoy the rest of my lfe with me.

awwwww :wub: how blessed you are to experience that kind of love! Best of luck to you. And thanks!

My name is Melissa and I am 42 years old. I have been married for almost 21 years and have a 19 year old daughter. I have been overweight the majority of my life, like everyone else, losing some, then gaining back more. I'm not looking to be a supermodel, I just want to be able to wear clothes that don't come from the plus size section. I have no major health issues to speak of but my weight is taking its toll on my knees and back. I hope to have surgery before the holidays so that I can start working on my skinny bucket list next summer!

Hi, I am a 41 year old mother of 5 adopted children. For the last 10 years I have done treatement fostercare, from which 4 of my children were adopted through. Everyday I say I am the lucky one to have them in my life. Before that my husband and I owned and ran a dairy farm for many years. My entire adult life has been a struggle with my weight. I am one week, one day post-op. After a few days of "buyers remorse" I am feeling much better and so glad I made this discision. I knew I needed a permanent life style change to manage my weight, the sleeve was the right choice for me.

Hi' date=' I am a 41 year old mother of 5 adopted children. For the last 10 years I have done treatement fostercare, from which 4 of my children were adopted through. Everyday I say I am the lucky one to have them in my life. Before that my husband and I owned and ran a dairy farm for many years. My entire adult life has been a struggle with my weight. I am one week, one day post-op. After a few days of "buyers remorse" I am feeling much better and so glad I made this discision. I knew I needed a permanent life style change to manage my weight, the sleeve was the right choice for me.[/quote']

I have 5 adopted children as well, 2 special needs, 1 special ed and 1 5 year old tyrant! I love them all! Welcome!

Hi;

I'm a mom and a grand mother. I dream of becoming a famous writer and so that is what I do with my day. I write short stories and poetry. I am married with two children. One of each, millionaires family.....

I applied for the VSG three years ago and was just given the okay last friday the 24 of August/12.

I have been heavy most of my life and now health issues are causing me to slow down. A bad back and cronic pain due to a fall 6 years ago.

I started to change some habits several months ago when I went to my seminar for the sleeve. So I have been trying to put things into practice before I even have the surgery. I am not perfect by any means. But I really want to be a success at this amazing tool. Having others to talk to or to even listen to their stories will be a huge encouragement to me.

Thank you for this opportunity to be here!

Jane

Hi guys, I had no idea this thread would grow so much!

So nice to meet you all and good luck to you all on your journey.

It's crazy easy at first because it feels like no matter what you do the weight literally just falls off. I've lost 113 pounds in about 9 months, the first 105 being a cake walk. I don't mind working for the things I want though so it is going to happen!

113 lbs in 9 months!!! You are seriously rockin' that sleeve.

You are on track just keep up the good work.... I am down 74 lbs and it has slowed down but I really enjoy being who I am now.